


Effects

by Athene



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 11:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3288728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athene/pseuds/Athene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Affected by a sleep effect during a mission, Zexion tries to make sense of his surroundings in the aftermath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Effects

He awoke to the sound of his name being shouted.

While that was not strange in itself, something about the situation sent his mind reeling in alarm.

The moment he registered his name, he fell to the ground—falling a good two feet onto legs that had forgotten how to support his weight, sending him unceremoniously to the dirt. Zexion blinked hard, allowing his long hair to mask his expression of dazed confusion.

A pair of dark boots and the hem of a leather coat entered his vision, and he slowly shook his head as he pushed himself into a proper sitting position. “Marluxia.”

A familiar scythe swung into view for a moment before disappearing; the adjusted stance was all Zexion had to see to know that the Assassin had settled his weapon onto one shoulder. Marluxia said nothing as Zexion recovered, leaving it to the shorter Nobody to read his silence. Under the circumstances, irritation would be understandable.

Zexion took his time climbing back to his feet, neither man asking nor offering assistance; it was enough that they fought together when the situation called for it, but actual camaraderie was nonexistent. As he found his balance, his memories began to trickle back into an order than made sense.

Monstrous plant creatures indigenous to this area of the world—the malboro, if he recalled the name correctly—had ambushed them, spraying a noxious gas that debilitated both of them instantly. While they had natural affinities to ward off some of the effects, they also had their share of weaknesses.

Zexion had succumbed to sleep. The states of the malboros around them were testaments to that fact.

Even from a distance, it was obvious that Marluxia had not struck killing blows on the monsters; any blade left marks, and there were no lethal wounds on them. Two of the malboros had fallen onto their backs, choking on their own acidic bile to the point that it overflowed from their huge mouths and dribbling over their carcasses. Another had inserted its own tentacles into its mouth and _chewed,_ shredding itself apart. Their remaining mess of tentacles, ripped and torn into barely recognizable threads of plant fibers, still twitched and squirmed in death, as if unable to let go of the last vestiges of a nightmare.

His mission partner remained silent, frowning at the monsters. No doubt he had found something intriguing about them and was disappointed that he had unconsciously slaughtered them, Zexion thought to himself.

Noticing that he was being stared at, Marluxia next aimed his frown at the Schemer. When no reprimand came, irreverence reared its head and curled his lips. “Cat got your tongue, XI?”

Zexion did not immediately understand why the Assassin _glared_ at him for his quip. The revelation was slow to set in, but his lips parted in surprise all the same when it did.

Even if the voice that had awoken him could have belonged to the other man, Marluxia had never known Ienzo.


End file.
